Editor's letter REDESIGNEDM

You cannot compete, where you don't compare… yes, read that again. Out loud, backwards, and inside out… False comparison will be the demise to your growth. This realization changed my life. I’ve been a publisher now for 5 years. However, I have been in the beauty industry for over 25 years. As a hairdresser, I’ve made my mark. There wasn’t a room I could walk into without everyone knowing my name. There wasn’t a stage I didn’t grace or an audience that I couldn’t capture. And I loved every minute of it. I was a star…LOL. At least that’s how I felt, that’s how this industry made me feel. UNSTOPPABLE.

Once I became a publisher, it all stopped. All at once I was walking on uncharted territories, professionally and personally; so many things were changing, yet they stayed the same. The people were the same but my role was different… My needs were also different, which meant my approach had to be different. I was taking up new space. I didn’t recognize that my 25 years of experience as a hairdresser was not always transferable or credible in this new space. But it was just familiar, so I tried to stay there a little while longer, not realizing it was causing somewhat of a delay. To move forward, I had to start for from scratch, building a new brand.

I could no longer compare myself to the experiences I knew. I had to perform, and this performance required new knowledge, consistency and effort like never before. It was exhausting, because I knew that everyone around me already knew me and my capabilities. I had to constantly remind myself I was in a new space. And if I was going to take up space, like real space, I had to clear my mind of everything I once was, to project who I am now. It took five years.

We are now working with a new designer and for the first time in five years I enjoyed the process of creating Efe Magazine it was no musk no fuss, no resistance, just pure creativity. For familiar I sacrificed what I believed of myself. It wasn't even for joy - imagine that.

But now at five years, I wonder… what’s next? I know that everything that I’ve done to this point has gotten me here and I feel like it’s time to re-create not only the magazine but myself so that people can see clearly my growth, my development my direction. I’m in a great place, moving forward as Andrea Sampson the editor, keynote speaker and game changer. If you know me at all, the one thing that has never changed is my love to dance. I have incorporated it in all areas of my career. I think that’s what I’m known for. I may not be the best at it, but when I move, I am fully committed to every movement. I think it safe to say that music totally rocks my soul. It allows me to connect to moments of my life that have me feeling as if I were right there. Good or bad. Past or present. It grounds me. I could recite word for word each song I used to get through a moment. My celebrated moments and songs that helped me get to a better place. I ‘m working on my new collection of moments and I will go back as needed. But in the meantime, I’m working on whomever I have to be, whenever I have to be it.